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<\/a><\/p>\nEmergency alerts on your Android smartphone are a good thing \u2014 even if they are a bit annoying sometimes!<\/p>\n
Every so often \u2014 or frequently, depending on your tolerance level \u2014 you get an emergency alert on your phone. That horrible blaring of the emergency tone, the buzzing the vibration motor, and then the grim news. Someone’s missing. Or there’s a severe weather alert headed your way. Suddenly and without warning, your phone’s scaring the hell out of you. It’s bad enough during the day, and downright dreadful in the dead of night.<\/p>\n
And that’s the idea.<\/p>\n
The U.S. carriers have worked with the federal government to come up with a way to push alerts to your Android smartphone to warn you about dangerous weather, missing persons or other matters of grave national importance. The point is they want you to see this information in hopes that it could save your life \u2014 or someone else’s.<\/p>\n
Here’s what you need to know about these emergency alerts and how you can control them on your Android phone.<\/p>\n
What kind of emergency alerts are there?<\/h2>\n
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<\/a><\/p>\nThere are three (or four, depending on how you’re counting) types of emergency alerts you can receive on your Android. They’re grouped into the less-dangerous-sounding “Cell Broadcast” heading, and include:<\/p>\n
\n- Extreme threats:<\/strong> Classified as threats to your life and property, such as an impending catastrophic weather event like a hurricane, tornado or tsunami.<\/li>\n
- Severe threats:<\/strong> Less serious than the extreme threats, these could be the same types<\/em> of situations, but on a smaller scale \u2014 a reason to stay safe, but not evacuate or take extreme measures.<\/li>\n
- AMBER alerts:<\/strong> These are specific alerts aimed at locating a missing child. Technically AMBER stands for “America’s Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response.” But it was named for Amber Hagerman, a 9-year-old who was kidnapped and killed in 1996. AMBER alerts will include as much information as the authorities currently have available, giving you the location of the alert, and often a vehicle description including a license plate number.<\/li>\n
- Presidential alerts:<\/strong> These alerts will often fall into the “extreme threats” category, but are issued directly by the President of the United States (or through their office) and cannot be turned off in your phone’s settings.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
What does an emergency or AMBER alert sound like?<\/h2>\n